Innovation in industry: Industry 4.0 and modernization trends

Regardless of the industry in which companies operate, digital transformation is no longer a novelty in the market. Even so, it's important to highlight one point: with the increasing adoption of technologies such as cloud computing, augmented reality, and the Internet of Things (IoT) , innovation in industry continues to advance .

If technological advancements have led to exponential increases in productivity since the 1st Industrial Revolution, this transition we are currently experiencing to the 4th revolution will combine sophisticated methods and activities with intelligent systems embedded in machines, individuals, organizations, and resources.

This is the revolution called Industry 4.0 , marked by the emergence of new solutions using the cloud , robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and much more. In practice, if organizations do not understand the changes and opportunities that Industry 4.0 brings, they risk losing market share .

The next step for companies that want to remain competitive is to define techniques and tools that best meet their needs and investment possibilities.

To contribute to this important process, we'll list the trends that will be on the rise! Follow along until the end!

What is Industry 4.0?

Industry 4.0 is the new revolution generated in industry , starting in 2010, with the integration of data in the cloud, artificial intelligence, machinery, and communication to create an efficient industrial ecosystem that is not only automated but also intelligent.

Although some believe that Industry 4.0 is just a buzzword, changes are happening and deserve your attention .

As a result of this environment of change and evolution, machines are becoming increasingly intelligent, as they gain access to a greater amount of data. The consequence of this is more efficient and productive factories.

Therefore, it can be said that Industry 4.0 is more than just technology . It's about making fundamental changes in the way products are manufactured.

This revolution allows for the accumulation and evaluation of the wealth of data through machines, enabling faster processes. In this way, we introduce a new sequence of activities into the production chain, always with the goal of improving efficiency to generate higher quality products at a lower price .

For those who fully embrace this world of innovation in the industry, this revolution will be able to promote benefits such as:

• It will increase productivity;
• It will promote the growth of industrial capacity;
• It will bring cost savings in the medium term;
• It will change the profile of the solutions used by companies.

Connected machines will interact, help visualize the entire production chain, and contribute to decision-making in an automated and autonomous way.

Why is Industry 4.0 so important?

It is essential to understand the potential of this 4th industrial revolution because it will affect processes already known in the market. Its reach is much broader, involving all industries and sectors, which is why it is so fundamental and cannot be ignored on organizations' agendas .

Technologies coupled with Industry 4.0 can lead to the creation of entirely new services and products. The use of cloud-connected devices , wearable sensors, robotics, and data analytics will enable product improvements in a variety of ways, from creating tests and prototypes to integrating and connecting previously unconnected products.

4 innovation trends in the industry to adopt in 2024

Below, discover some important innovation trends in the industry and find out how to kickstart your business's digital transformation journey!

1. Migration to cloud computing

As we have seen, cloud computing offers an excellent platform for maintaining industrial data, its histories, inventory lists, and using data on demand. Even though the cloud is already a more mature technology in the market, we will maintain it as one of the main trends and a necessity for 2024.

According to IDC forecasts , investments in IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) could exceed US$4.5 billion in Brazil alone. This amount represents a 41% increase compared to 2022. The research also shows that investments in public cloud infrastructure account for more than half of all investments in digital infrastructure.

In industry, migrating to the cloud ensures that machine downtime is reduced, while also lowering costs and resource waste.

The cloud still allows you to have:

• Monitoring machine behavior and responses in real time;
• Centralized, data-driven analysis for decision-making;
• Process optimizations;
• Instant response;
• Optimizing resource consumption.

2. Cloud solutions for integrating systems

Cloud computing is currently driving growth in industrial production units, providing companies with a reliable computing ecosystem to work in an integrated way .

The advantages of cloud computing described above show that, alongside other integrated technologies, it will continue to play an important role in industrial environments that require this type of connection.

Among the 10 strategic technology trends announced by Gartner, we find what they call Applied Observability. In the context of constantly changing businesses, the demand for
observable data in a highly organized and integrated way across all business functions, applications, and infrastructure and operations (I&O) is key to ensuring the best decision-making.

Gartner estimates that by 2026, 70% of organizations that have successfully implemented observability will achieve greater prominence and demonstrate a greater competitive advantage through their IT and business processes.

The great benefit of opting for this trend is that it offers an excellent ecosystem for collecting historical data, including from legacy systems, and integrating it with current systems, which drive industrial automation.

Being able to react in real time to changes occurring on the factory floor, without having to shut down the entire operation or switch between systems to find an error, makes all the difference for industrial operations.

3. Cybersecurity

The integrated nature of operations conducted by Industry 4.0 means that cyberattacks can have very negative effects if they occur. In this case, cybersecurity strategies must be secure and fully integrated with organizational and information technology.

cybersecurity provider is essential to ensuring data protection and is on the list of innovation trends. One of the reasons is that cybercriminals are increasingly adopting ransomware.

A study by Check Point Research (CPR) indicates that global cyberattacks have grown by 8% year-on-year. Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for hackers in the digital landscape induced by Covid-19. The transformation of so many companies operating in a predominantly digital mode has created more targets for extortion.

According to IDC, investments in cybersecurity will reach nearly US$300 billion in 2026. A cyberattack can cause significant damage to a company, including financial losses through fines and the cost of recovering leaked data.

We will see the market urgently seeking companies that focus on this type of security work and that can encapsulate all the information that travels between machines and areas in a secure environment.

By connecting these services to cloud computing, which guides the entire operation of Industry 4.0, your organization ensures that it will have the highest level of security continuously .

4. Accounts payable automation

In addition to the importance of a good relationship with your business partners, supplier management is also essential to ensure the productivity of your finance department. After all, accounts payable must be aligned and connected with all other actions carried out in the company.

One of the major challenges faced by accounts payable teams when processes are uncertain or highly manual is the constant demand from suppliers, who need to request information at all times. Therefore, automating this step is also considered a very relevant innovation in the industry.

The absence of automated processes, which would allow access to up-to-date information such as an overview of all invoices with expected payment dates and applied discounts , directly impacts business productivity, which ends up wasting a lot of time on excessive phone calls and email responses.

Pillars of Industry 4.0

There are nine main pillars of Industry 4.0 . These pillars indicate the new technologies that manufacturers are using to improve all areas of production processes.

It's crucial to become familiar with these pillars, as the market expects them to have a widespread impact across all industries and society as a whole. Here they are:

1. Big Data

Today, vast, unexplored datasets exist in the industrial landscape. This is what we call Big Data !

Analyzing them is one of the pillars of the segment's transformation and one of the first steps to improving services, optimizing production quality, and saving energy.

This work also supports real-time decision-making. To that end, here are the main processes for analyzing and collecting data.

• Data management : is a process for building standards and maintaining data quality;
• Data mining : responsible for discovering patterns, filters, noise, and identifying useful information;
• Predictive analytics : using statistical algorithms and machine learning to identify future outcomes;
• Exploratory analysis : analyzing system data to gain immediate insights.

2. Cloud computing

Cloud computing is the great enabler of digital transformation across the market. In today's industry landscape, cloud technology goes far beyond scalability, speed, cost efficiency, and storage, which are the well-known benefits of this solution.

It provides the foundation for the most advanced technologies – from artificial intelligence to IoT. The data that fuels these technologies resides in cloud-based systems, which are becoming the core of Industry 4.0 , relying on it to coordinate actions.

The Industry 4.0 revolution also requires more data sharing between companies and production units, which is why cloud solutions present themselves as an ideal model because they allow:

• Cloud-based resource management for managing the industry globally;
• Implementation of cloud-based managed inventory to provide real-time order status;
• Building internal intelligence using analytics and improving the performance of technologies.

3. System integration

Currently, most IT systems are not fully integrated. Data from organizations, customers, and suppliers are rarely connected. 

In this context, businesses that are evolving alongside the changes of Industry 4.0 are experiencing a need for complete integration .

With Industry 4.0, organizations, functions, departments, and resources will become much more connected as data integration networks between them evolve and enable truly automated information chains.

By connecting to the cloud, all these elements will become much more interconnected. Furthermore, as data integration grow, new benefits may emerge:

• It allows communication between different systems;
• All types of machinery on production lines can be connected;
• It ensures that all areas function autonomously and without problems.

4. Cybersecurity

Yes, cyber threats increase significantly with the rise in connectivity and communications in industry. Therefore, there is a great need to protect data, industrial systems, and production lines.

In Industry 4.0, nothing is possible without secure connections. Companies need to be vigilant and attentive to any type of vulnerability that threatens security.

In this case, whenever you choose a solution geared towards Industry 4.0, pay attention to the levels of security that this structure has.

One option is to use cloud services that already have an advanced layer of security . You can access files and information regardless of what happens to your machine, thus preventing them from falling into the wrong hands.

5. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality-based systems support various services, such as sending repair instructions to mobile devices and selecting parts from a virtual warehouse. Therefore, this technology has the potential to optimize activities that previously took a long time to perform and even required extra effort from professionals.

These systems are currently being refined, but soon organizations will make much wider use of them to provide workers with real-time information to optimize decision-making and work procedures.

6. IoT – Internet of Things

More and more devices are being integrated and interconnected with computing, formed by networks present in any place or environment. There are connected computers and sensors everywhere in industry. This technique, the basis of IoT, is what generates the greatest intelligence for the organization due to the level of information it can provide .

According to McKinsey data , predictive maintenance, enhanced by artificial intelligence, can generate a 40% reduction in maintenance costs, as well as reduce machine downtime by up to 50% and increase lifespan by 20% to 40%.

Since the Internet of Things facilitates the inclusion of any item or tool in a company's information network, it is capable of connecting manufacturing, transportation, cloud systems, infrastructure, logistics, and customer service to share data together.

This technology also allows organizations to:

• Perform more precise actions;
• Modify and design products quickly;
• Stay at the top of consumer preferences;
• Avoid equipment downtime;
• Track products and inventory;
• and much more.

7. 3D Manufacturing

While manufacturers seek to expand the use of technology in their processes, solutions such as 3D printing are already playing an important role in three main areas:

• Design : Design teams can experiment with creating more complex geometric shapes and structures due to the flexibility of 3D printing technology;
• Prototyping : 3D printing is frequently used for prototyping, accelerating design cycles and reducing costs. Companies are free to fail quickly in a controlled environment and explore various models before deciding on final designs;
• Small-scale production : when only a small quantity of a product is needed, 3D printing is the fastest and most economical production method.

8. Autonomous systems

Although the industry has made great strides in automation in recent years, many opportunities remain unexplored. Robots are now designed to bridge the gap between traditional machines and human workers, opening up new areas for automation.

These robots can already be designed to operate autonomously, with the added ability to monitor and transmit data. Thus, a process can obtain information about its environment, adapt, and make decisions without the need for human intervention.

All of this reduces the workload that companies face. These robots can be cheaper than older machines, even in terms of maintenance, and have a much wider range of features than are needed in manufacturing today .

9. Simulation

Simulation is key to cost control. Being able to run a simulation drives innovation in industry, helps make better decisions, and enables forecasting .

These simulations will be widely used in factory operations to leverage real-time information and mirror the physical world in a virtual model, which can combine machines, products, and humans.

This will allow operators to examine and optimize machine settings for the product, also providing increased quality at each stage of the process.

Now is the time to innovate!

The goal so far is to show how we live in an era of digital transformation and innovation, considering the Industry 4.0 environment. These examples, which are directly related to the industrial sector, are the main ones that can be followed with business growth in mind. 

Now is the time for companies in the sector to embrace these disruptive changes and the best practices that Industry 4.0 can bring. To get started with this innovation in the industry, see here how to take the first step with Sky.One , your partner in digital transformation.

Written by Skyone